Celon o Naur Lhûn
by Arwen Imladviel
Summary: Otherland:'River of Blue Fire'Middle-earth. Instead of the cartoon kitchen simworld, Orlando Gardiner and Sam Fredericks find themselves in a Tolkien fanatic’s dream come true – the River Anduin, early Fourth Age Middle Earth.
1. Anduin the Great

_**-- Celon o Naur Lhûn --**_ 

_--River of Blue Fire--_

**Chapter One: Anduin the Great**

As the blue light died, Orlando saw the river had turned into a narrow and swift channel at the bottom of a deep canyon. Their leaf-boat had transformed into a small open canoe made of silvery wood. Fredericks found a paddle and hastened to keep the craft in balance amid the wild waters. Orlando picked up another and helped his friend. He had never paddled a canoe and expected to have trouble at first, but it seemed the boat was so well balanced, or Fredericks so skilled at steering, that it glided on effortlessly. Or perhaps it was part of the programming of whatever simulation they had tumbled into – the river looked dangerous but crafts floated placidly as ducks in a pond, albeit faster. It would be a true relief to be in a virtual world built to be as safe and user-friendly as that after the gigantic jungle of monster insects.

"Where are we?" Fredericks shouted over the roar of the rapids.

"I don't know – and where is Renie?"

"Not here, it seems."

"Maybe they didn't come trough. I mean, we'd have seen them by now."

"I guess so. Fredericks sounded morose. "But how could that be? They went through like the same time we did."

"Maybe there are different levels on the river. Maybe flying through sends you somewhere different than sailing through."

"But then we'll never find them! They could be anywhere!"

"I know. I suppose... look!" Orlando pointed at something ahead.

Slowly, as they passed through the mist rising from the water, the shapes of the rock ahead where revealed to be, not natural formations, or simulations of them, but the work of man. On either side o0f the river two mighty figures each raised a left arm high in greeting. The statues were immense and awe-inspiring – two giants of stone, bearded men with crowns on their heads and axes in their right hands. They seemed ancient, ravaged by wind and weather.

"Fenfen! I thought we were done with being lilliputs!" Fredericks exclaimed.

"We aren't, scanbark. These are the Argonath!"

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"This is Middle-Earth! Lord of the Rings, the one book I keep telling you should read."

"Oh! So one of these Otherland people have made a simulation based on that..."

"Yes. I don't think they have the legal right, the Estate is still against commercial simulations – unless whoever made this place actually is one of the heirs of Tolkien... no, they aren't that rich."

"So... you know this place?"

"Like the back of my hand."

"Then please tell me there isn't a waterfall right after the pillars! The current's getting faster!"

Orlando closed his eyes and thought hard. Rauros was close, but he was almost certain they weren't there yet.

"The river flows into a lake... wide lake, takes a day to cross... on the other side, three peaks, waterfall behind them. Keep to the middle! We'll be fine!"

And then they were past the statues and floated on Nen Hithoel. The trees on its banks bore the colours of fall. Orlando was soon busy explaining to Fredericks everything he could remember about the geography of Middle Earth, particularly the course of River Anduin. When he proceeded to recount the events of the book that had taken place here, his friend interrupted:

"So you are saying Mordor is right behind those mountains? And the company was ambushed by orcs and a Nazgul? I wouldn't worry if this was in Middle Country, but as it is I would prefer not to die just yet."

"I'm not sure what era we are in, but by the age of the statues I'd guess it's after the War of the Ring. Maybe there are no orcs anymore."

"And what if, in this simulation, the orcs won the war?"

"Jeez! We'll just have to find out. I'd still recommend camping on the west bank."

It was dark when they drew up the canoe beneath Amon Hen. Nonetheless Orlando wanted to climb up the winding path.

"I'm too tired to be interested in a view, and besides it's too dark to see anything!" Fredericks complained.

"Don't you understand? It's a magic place! There is a throne and whoever sits on it sees things by magic! I want to see how they have simulated that!"

"All right. But I'm only coming because I suspect you're so charged up you'll see things that aren't programmed anywhere outside your head!"

When they had climbed about halfway to the top, Fredericks suddenly asked:

"This throne place – it's known to everyone in that book?"

"More or less."

"And I suppose anyone who wanted to make or visit a simworld like this would know it?"

"Certainly."

"Only it occurs to me that this path is kind of narrow. Not what you'd expect of a regular stop of the local sight-seeing tour."

"So? Maybe it's just programmed that way."

"Nine times out of then, suspicious chairs and thrones in gameworlds are traps. And didn't you say something nasty happened to Frodo when he sat on the throne?"

"Well yes, but that was only because he was wearing the Ring. Aragorn went there too and nothing happened."

"No magic, either?"

"Well, no. But I'm still going to give it a try."

The world was indeed dark, the moon wreathed in clouds, the sun long set beyond the Misty Mountains. Tol Brandir rose like a finger or a Freudian metaphor, and Amon Lhaw was a shadow wreathed in mist. The mist weaved its way up from the dizzying depths of Rauros, where the water plunged with a steady rumble, roaring, thundering ever and ever.

At the summit there was a circle of flagstone, surrounded by the ruins of walls, and in the mi9ddle the seat itself, set on four mighty pillars. Orlando climbed the steps and sat down.

He was disappointed. Nothing happened. Then, slowly, Fredericks and the mountain and the noise of the falls fell away and he was almost bodiless, in a world of vision alone. And such vision! First of all he felt his head turn northwest, and he saw Shire under a starlit sky, lights shining in thousands of round windows, and he sighed in relief. All was well with the hobbits, at least. Then he looked north, up the mountains and beyond them. A valley opened to his eyes, and there the lights were a million, some moving on a river, or swinging on boughs. Marble and sandstone, jade and alabaster were the pillars and terraces and statues, but the central mansion was built of bricks and wood. Rivendell, the last Homely House. But why were they so few, the elves dancing in the gardens, singing in the halls, sitting at the tables, and so many the empty corridors and dark windows? There was the answer – Three lords sat at the end of the highest table, two of them identical and dark haired, the third so very wise and sad, with hair of silver. Elladan, Elrohir, Celeborn. Closer to, on the near side of the mountains, golden leaves caught his eye. Amid the trees and in their branches lanterns shone like fireflies. But Caras Galadhron was sparsely populated too, these days. In the east lay Mordor, or the place that once had been Mordor. How it had changed! There were houses and fields where Orlando remembered the wasteland on the maps. On the slopes of Morgai, young trees reached up in every crack they could plant their hungry roots. The gates of Morannon stood open and unguarded. Ditches had been dug to dry the Dead Marshes. To south he looked, and saw the City of Minas Tirith, watchmen on her walls. The river Anduin streamed beneath a new bridge at Osgiliath, between restored Ithilien and cornfields on the plain of Pelennor. To the sea the river went, and in a harbor that had to be Dol Amroth, a ship was being built, a ship made of silvery wood. At last he looked to west, and saw sunset over the sea, and the stars reflected, and something else, something blue shining under the waves –

And then he felt someone watching him with curiosity, someone hidden, someone very powerful. He screamed in terror. Sauron! The enemy was upon him! Then he felt a hand take his hand, two hands grasping him, pulling him away from the chair. He felt more than saw Fredericks lead him down the steps, to sit at the lowest. It took a while for Orlando to catch his breath.

"You were right! I felt something – someone saw me."

"Any idea who?"

"No. I thought it was Sauron, but that doesn't scan – I mean, I know where we are now. I mean, _when_ we are now. It's after the war and everything seems peaceful. And I saw the blue light. It was in the ocean! In the bloody ocean far in the west! As if the river wasn't long enough! This world is vast, I tell you, simply tremendous!"


	2. Minaiwen

**Chapter Two: Minaiwen**

"What do you mean, the world is vast? Do people think it's small where you come from, then?"

The voice was female, but they couldn't see the speaker. Then she stepped out from the shadows behind the stone stairs. At the same moment the moon emerged from the clouds and they saw she was an elf, with small pointed ears and large, luminous eyes. She was beautiful in a feline, exotic way – not human at all, graceful, and arrogant beyond measure. Her clothes were leather, some kind of poncho, shirt and tight trousers. She was unarmed.

"You were hiding under the throne?" Fredericks asked accusingly.

"Hiding? Most certainly not. I was sleeping. A nice dry place to spend the night, roof and all." She pointed at a blanket, beside which there was a bow, a vine of arrows, and a leather bag.

"The fact that you didn't take your bow when you rose to meet us convinces me that you aren't our enemy," Orlando said, and added: "Don't you think so, Pithlit?" to tell Fredericks they should use their Middle Country names.

"I guess you're right, Thargor." He bowed gracefully;

"My name is Pithlit and my friend here is known as Thargor. Might I inquire your name, fair lady?"

The elf-woman smiled and looked suddenly very young, even childish:

"My name is Minaiwen and I serve prince Legolas of Greenwood the Great."

"I have heard of him. Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo. " Orlando told her.

"Oh! You speak the ancient tongue! I do not, alas, I am only Moriquendi. Where do you come from?"

"I am from Laketown, near your forest in the north. My friend is an easterling whom Rhûn, not from Khand you understand, we have known each other for years and I'd trust him with my life, and often have. He doesn't know much about these parts, for so far we have travelled only in the wild realms far in the east."

"Why were you so surprised to see that the world is vast?"

"I'm not very good with maps. I never realized that Eriador is so big, nor Anduin so long."

"Ah. You are not dressed like a Laketowner, if you forgive me saying so."

"Oh, this stupid loincloth! You must have thought I was a complete barbarian! You see, I was kept as a slave for a while by some unpleasant people, until Pithlit freed me. We've travelled through wilderness and neither of us is any good at turning skins into clothes. As soon as I find a village I'll buy something decent to wear."

Minaiwen looked thoughtful. Then she sat down on the steps. Orlando sat beside her, but Fredericks remained standing. After a moment of silence the girl spoke:

"All right. There is something about you that feels strange, but you seem honest people. I wonder if you could help me? I am looking for a lost child. She seems to be ten or younger, for she is very small. Her hair is golden. She probably wears a yellow frock and a green hood, but no shoes –"

Orlando interrupted her:

"Is she a hobbit?"

"Yes! Have you seen her?"

"No. But my people know of hobbits. How old is she, then?"

"Twenty-one."

Now it was Fredericks who asked:

"I thought you called her a child?"

"She is. A hobbit aged twenty-one is like a human at thirteen, or an elf at one hundred."

"As I said, we haven't met anyone. How come a hobbit child be lost here?"

"She isn't. Others are looking for her elsewhere. I came here to see if I could find her with the help of the Seat of Seeing. I've tried three times. Every time I saw different things, so I haven't given up yet. She is visiting Gondor with her parents – her father is Samwise Gamgee, a companion of my lord Legolas. The girl is called Elanor. She is a maid of honour to the queen."

Fredericks looked at them and felt an outsider. He wished he had read the book. He – she, for it was her female part that did so – wished Orlando wasn't so enchanted by the pretty elf maiden. Fredericks wondered whether she was a person or a puppet. She resembled many of the too-pretty female sims in Middle Country, the airhead girls who played games of flirtation and wore pointed ears whenever that was the fashion. On the other hand, her clothes were sensible, and she at least pretended not to understand anything outside her own simworld. So she probably wasn't an airhead. Codehead, maybe. That would be good, a tiny voice spoke in her heart, there is no reason to be jealous of a puppet.

He climbed past the others and sat on the throne. And then he began to see.


	3. 3

**Chapter Three: Elbereth**

Fredericks saw the western Middle-Earth spread out in all its nighttime glory. Towers and cities, mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, plains and woodlands, all he saw, none he could name. Three towers stood on three hills gazing west, the last ray of sunset a gleam in the eyes of their windows. The river streaming wide past a seven-layered city like a wedding cake, with an outcropping of rock piercing it like a cake server about to cut through the six upper layers. Enormous creatures like walking trees in a forest. A spider creeping towards a cave, on a stairway the scale of which suggested that the spider was the size of an elephant.

High over the mountain in the side of which the stairs were carved, a single bright star, or planet, shone between misty clouds. The clouds moved in the wind and for a moment formed the shape of a beautiful woman with very long hair. Her hand seemed to point down at the spider's cave.

Fredericks now found he could see right into the cave, as if it was not pitch dark, as if the mountainside did not stand in the way. The spider moved slowly. It went past yawning tunnels, shredded webs, through one cavern after another, until it came into a chamber the walls of which were all white, covered with webs. There were bundles there, and if his estimation was correct, the largest were the size of a man. One of the smaller rolls of webbing was not all white – some golden threads stuck out. Golden! Golden hair! He got up and ran down the steps, shouting:

"I saw her! I saw the child! I sat on the throne and I saw a spider monster! It's huge, it lives in a cave, there's a long winding stair up this mountain, somewhere in the south, the spider has wrapped her in sticky webs, I think it is her, it's the size of a child and I saw golden hair sticking out of the bundle!"

"How could you see inside a cave? The seat only shows things that are visible through open air!" Minaiwen exclaimed. Orlando defended his friend.

"You mean you and I only saw these things. I did see into some rooms in Rivendell, but only through windows, feeling I was on the outside. How could Pithlit lie – and besides he describes Shelob, and yet has never heard of her!"

"Oh, no! We thought Shelob was dead? You mean she has Elanor? Are you sure that is what you saw?" Minaiwen demanded of Fredericks.

"No, what I saw was a child-sized bundle with golden hair. Could be another child. I doubt it's an orc, though – somehow I can't imagine hair like that on one of those buggers. Mind you, I think I saw something else before that. I saw a star – that star, actually," he pointed at the brightest star visible, "and a cloudy shape, a woman, and she pointed at the spider, as if urging me to look. And then the mountain somehow opened and I could see inside, even though I knew it was dark there."

"Elbereth!" Minailwen exclaimed, "The Queen of Stars herself aided you. Why she chose you I don't know, they don't worship the Valar in Khand, do they?"

Fredericks smiled a dreamy smile.

"I am willing to worship that lady all right. Wish I'd seen her face a bit closer. She was perfect, lovely, she was loveliness itself."

Orlando stared at his friend open-mouthed. Was he faking it? Or had the woman truly had such an impact on him? Was he a lesbian? Then he realized just how stupid _that_ sounded when put into words. Pithlit in Middle Country had always been extravagantly polite to women – kissing hands, bowing and lifting his hat in a flourish, boring them with compliments and so on – just to keep the distance, he supposed. So maybe this was just Fredericks back in the Pithlit role.

"The way I see it, she gave you the mission of saving the child."

"Thargor, you're the guy with the sword. I'm the guy with the brains. Also the guy very much without weapon of any kind, I would like to point out."

"Friends! We are not the only ones who can help the child. There are others, much closer to Cirith Ungol, and all we need to do is get the message there as fast as possible."

"We have a boat, although it would have to be carried past the falls first."

"That would take too long – and besides I can run faster than you can paddle! However, I won't have to, for I was prepared to send a message."

Minaiwen whistled sharply.

From the branches of a tree on Tol Brandir, a small shape parted to fly towards them. As it landed on the elf-girl's left wrist, they saw it was a falcon. Minaiwen, all the time balancing the bird on her wrist, went to get her bag. She rummaged in it and took out a small piece of parchment, a pen and a bottle of ink. Capping the bottle with her teeth and using the smooth stone step as a table, she wrote a quick message. Peering over her shoulder, Orlando saw that the letters were elvish. The girl read out the message, and Orlando realized there was no translation program used in this simulation – he heard the words in Sindarin. In that case, English they were speaking was theoretically Westron.

After the girl had bound the message to the falcon's leg and sent the bird away with another whistled command, he asked her:

"What did you write? I'm not that fluent in elvish!"

"This was my message: Elbereth be thanked, a vision on Amon Hen reveals that alas! A golden-haired child has been captured by Shelob in Cirith Ungol, alive and wrapped in webs. I have met two new friends, Thargor of Laketown and Pithlit of Khand, and will return with them by boat. Yours, Minaiwen."

"And who did you send it to?"

"My lord Legolas, of course. Celegon will take it to him in less than two days."

Orlando was a bit worried that their names were in the letter. He was glad he'd had the sense not to tell their real names. He wondered why Minaiwen hadn't mentioned that the vision was Pithlit's – as it was, the message gave the impression she had seen it herself. Was she trying to take credit for another's achievement? Orlando decided to ask:

"You didn't mention who saw the vision. Is there a reason for that?"

"Oh, yes. I couldn't think of a way I could explain to my lord Legolas why I trust the word of an easterling, not on such a small piece of parchment. When they rescue the girl and prove the vision true, then it is time I reveal who they can thank for the information. I hope you are not offended, master Pithlit?"

"Not at all. The important thing is that Elanor is found."

Fredericks hoped his words didn't sound too false. He was not at all interested in saving a puppet hobbit. For a moment the complexity of Otherland had made him forget he was in a simulation, then the excitement had made it feel like a Middle Country adventure. Now he felt he had had a narrow escape. What if the girl hadn't had the hawk? Would they be even now hauling the boat down the cliffs? He yawned just thinking all that work. It would still have to be done – tomorrow.

The all slept between the four pillars, under the throne. Minaiwen lent Orlando her blanket, she and Fredericks wrapped themselves tight in their cloaks. Minaiwen slept sitting up, leaning on a pillar, her eyes open. A phrase came to Orlando before sleep claimed him; it was about Legolas _– 'resting in his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world.'_

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Please review! I need all the help I can get to continue.


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